Ring in the New Year
by nanniships
Summary: A continuation of "I'll be home for Christmas." Edith and Anthony flee the Crawley family holiday celebration to ring in the New Year in a memorable way.


**A/N: Hee hee hee...I love these guys. Not mine; don't own 'em. Hope you like them.**

Ring in the New Year

Anthony Strallen gripped the wheel of his car and breathed a distinct sigh of relief as Edith's childhood home and village grew smaller in the rear view. The decision to leave on New Years Eve to return home had been an easy one after an extremely difficult holiday with the Crawley family.

"Edith?"

"Hmmm?" Edith didn't take her eyes from the book she was reading as Anthony drove them back to York.

"Edith? Are you listening?"

"Umm hmm," she hummed, turning the page and digging a pencil out of her bag at the same time. Anthony admired her dexterity for a moment.

"Edith? I've decided to join a religious order of silent eccentrics and devote my life to cold baths, porridge and meditating on the wisdom of embracing the Euro from a spiritual and Arthurian perspective."

"Hmm…" She was scribbling in the margin of her book, almost cross eyed with the strain of getting everything down in the tiny space.

"I love you madly, but I feel a higher calling. You don't mind, do you darling?"

"Umm umm," she hummed in the negative, placing the pencil behind her ear and turning glassy eyes towards him.

"I'm sorry, were you talking to me?"

"Not at all," Anthony deadpanned. "I was talking to the invisible rabbit in the backseat."

Edith rolled her eyes and tried to hide a grin. "Honestly, Anthony. You know how I get with a book sometimes. Just reach over and poke me on the shoulder, or something."

"The last time I did that, you flung a tablet at me."

"You poked too hard. I was startled." Edith gently closed her book and stroked the cover. "Besides, the tablet can take the abuse. There's no chance I'll be throwing _this_ at you."

"Which is exactly why I got it for you. I'm for self preservation, me."

Edith reached out to place her hand on his as it rested on the center console between the bucket seats. She gently rubbed her fingers over his knuckles. He smiled and gazed at her long enough for the car to drift across the center line. Snatching the wheel with both hands, he overcorrected and the heavy shaking of the car as it wandered over the rumble strip made them both sit up straighter.

"I'd say your self preservation needs work," Edith commented as the car righted itself between the line on the motorway. Anthony gripped the wheel tighter, his eyes bugging from the adrenalin coursing through him, and tried to slow his breathing.

"You concentrate on the road," Edith ordered. "And I'll put my book down and talk for a while."

"How am I supposed to concentrate on anything but the sound of your voice?"

"It'll be good practice. Just drive."

"As you wish, Lady Edith."

"Stop that," she said tartly. "After spending Christmas with my family, surely it has become more clear why I don't use my title. Nothing from that life ever fit me well."

Anthony nodded and quirked up the corner of his mouth in a half smile. "A lot of things became more clear over the holidays."

"I'm sorry it was so terrible, Anthony. Really."

"Terrible?" he asked, surprised. "Oh, I wouldn't say it was terrible."

"You wouldn't?" Edith asked weakly.

"No. I wouldn't say it was entirely…._comfortable_. But I quite liked your brothers in law. Your nieces and nephews provided a great deal of entertainment. Sybil was friendly. And some kind soul had hung mistletoe all _over _the place…"

"Yes, I believe we found every sprig. So you weren't completely miserable?"

"Not at all. I can't say that I made much headway with your parents…"

"I've been around them for 28 years, and I can't say that _I've_ made much headway with them."

"You're only 27, aren't you?"

"Well, I'll be 28 next month."

"Oh….well that makes things _so_ much better. If I'd have known, I'd have mentioned that every time your father brought up the fact that I'm nearly 50."

Edith dropped her head into her hands and sighed deeply. "God, I'm so sorry about all that, Anthony. I honestly thought their innate politeness and ostensible good breeding might prevent the worst of what they're capable of. But clearly, I overestimated them."

"It's alright, Edith," he said soothingly. "It really didn't bother me after the first dozen mentions. And after you found your way to my room the second night, it flew completely out of my head." He risked a quick glance over at her and was reassured to see her eyes sparkle naughtily.

"Yes, that _was_ a good night," she agreed.

"And you're wrong, you know."

"You say that," she began in a mock speculative tone, "and yet it is so seldom true…"

Anthony snorted. "Cheeky…yet accurate. Nevertheless, you are a lady down to your fingertips, and would be with or without a title. The fact that you haven't strangled half of them in their sleep speaks to your inherent graciousness." He snuck another look at Edith and was pleased to see her gaping, speechless. "It's not which family you're born into, darling. It's simply who you are. A beautiful, brilliant, intriguing, wonderful, kind and noble Lady."

"Stop this car!" she said suddenly.

"What? Why?" Anthony looked at her in sudden concern and was startled to see tears in her eyes.

"Stop the bloody car!" she repeated.

Anthony immediately signaled and pulled onto the verge. Before he could do more than put the car into park, Edith had slipped her seatbelt, thrown herself across the console, and grabbed his face in her hands. As cars roared past them, honking occasionally, she proceeded to kiss him thoroughly, maneuvering until she was practically in his lap.

Still cradling his face in her hands, Edith broke the kiss and gazed into his startled, but pleased, blue eyes. "Sometimes I cannot believe you are real, Anthony Strallan," she said softly as she tried to catch her breath.

"If I am a figment of your imagination, please keep imagining yourself on my lap in the front seat of my car," he replied, squeezing her hips where his hands had landed. "I would very much appreciate it." He kissed her cheek where a tear had run down and held tightly to her.

"I think we can do my imagination better than the front seat of your car." She leaned forward for another kiss, but was startled by a series of obnoxiously honking cars. Anthony threw back his head and laughed as she made a rude gesture out of the window.

"Oh, sod off!" she yelled at the next barrage of horns, making him laugh again. She moved her hands to the back of his neck and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I suppose this makes you reconsider your assessment of me as a lady."

"I never said you _behaved_ like a lady," he replied with grin. "I just said that you most certainly are one."

They smiled at each other until another series of honking horns broke into their moment. Sighing, Edith kissed him gently and moved back into her seat.

"I do love you, you know," she said casually as she buckled back up.

Anthony pulled back onto the motorway and merged with traffic. "It's good to know you're not just using me for my body," he said, not looking at her as he got back up to speed, trying to pretend he hadn't been effected by her statement. The tremor in his voice gave him away, and Edith smiled as he frowned at the milage sign.

"Oh I'm definitely using you for your body," she replied. "But I also love you."

"I love you too," he replied, releasing a shuddering breath. "And unless you want to pull back off onto the verge, we'd better stop talking about using my body."

Edith laughed and looked out the window as if she was considering various stopping points.

"There's a slip road coming up, Anthony. Why don't we take that instead of using the verge."

"Edith…" he groaned.

"Or…we can just simmer and stew in anticipation until we get back to York which, considering this traffic, should be about…4 hours."

Anthony slammed on his blinker and steered the car up the slip road towards the shining lights of a petrol station and a cafe. The car pulled into the lot and stopped with a spray of gravel.

"Dammit Edith," he growled, unfastening his seatbelt and reaching for her. She didn't even get a chance to unbuckle her own belt before his lips cut off her giggles and she was pressed back into the soft leather of her seat.

"Was this on your list of things to do before the new year?" he asked hoarsely, kissing around to her ear and moving down her neck, caressing it with his tongue. "Make love in the car park of a petrol station?"

"Not really," she gasped as one of his hands moved down from her shoulder to the front of her blouse. "But now that you mention it…" She struggled to reach down to unclasp her seatbelt, but Anthony's hip, draped awkwardly across the center console, impeded her hand. She gave him a little shove that caused her chest to arch into his hand, making them both groan.

"This isn't going to work, Edith," he grunted as he tried to shift himself to a less awkward position and rapped his head smartly on the roof. "The laws of physics will not be mocked."

"What about the back seat?" she asked as she was finally able to unlatch her seatbelt.

"I love the way you think… I'll meet you there." Anthony fell back into his seat and opened the door. Standing about four feet away, examining the vehicle cautiously, was a North Yorkshire Constable, who jumped when Anthony flung the door open.

"Need any help, Sir?" he asked, as he sized up the tall, disheveled man with the gaping mouth who was half in and half out of the car. Leaning down, he took in the passenger, who was sprawled in her seat, shoulders shaking as she tried not to laugh out loud. "You all right in there, Ma'am?"

"Perfectly fine, thank you," she choked out.

The Constable looked skeptical. He turned his attention back to Anthony. "Lads in the petrol station said you pulled in off the road pretty fast, then just were sat here. Thought I'd better check to see if anything were wrong."

Edith's memory was tickled as the Constable was speaking, and she stretched across the console to get a better look at him from user Anthony's arm.

"Oh, we're fine. It's all fine. Just stopped to, um, answer a text. Important text, you know. But didn't want to type while driving," Anthony babbled.

"Better safe than sorry, Sir. That's right."

"Mason?" Edith suddenly asked. "Willie Mason, is that you?" Anthony whipped his head around to stare at her. She began to smile as the Constable moved a little closer to see her more clearly.

"Edith Crawley?" he asked, beginning to grin.

"Yes! I had no idea you were a Constable now, Willie. How've you been?"

Anthony sat back in the seat of the car as Edith leaned over the center console and him to carry on a conversation with the constable. He cleared his throat when Edith began to talk about how they disrupted a council session by standing under the windows of the Hall and hitting the wall with an iron bar while a younger, and obviously less law abiding constable, played a recording of chimpanzees mating.

"Oh…I'm sorry, Anthony. Willie Mason and I grew up in the same village and got into some trouble together."

"So I gathered," he replied dryly, while Constable Mason kept grinning and shaking his head.

"The chimpanzees might have been a bit much," he said. "I always figured that was why yer Dad wouldn't let you go out wi' me."

"It _is_ good to see you again, Willie."

"I suppose you still won't go out wi' me?" he asked with a wink that made Anthony suppress the sudden urge to punch him.

"I doubt your wife would approve," she replied with a grin. "You _are_ married, aren't you?"

"Aye. And that she wouldn't," he said ruefully. "Ah well…good to see you again, Edith." He leaned down closer to Anthony, who was glowering at him, and spoke quietly. "Next time, Sir, find some place other than the car park of a petrol station to ring in the new year, eh? You drive safe."

Anthony watched him walk back towards the petrol station and turned, speechless, to see Edith staring at him with an incredulous look on her face.

"An important text? That's all you could come up with?"

"I was a trifle distracted by our intention to get into the back seat," he protested, watching the smile spread across her face. "Tell me, do you have a long standing acquaintance with anyone _else_ in the North Yorkshire Constabulary?"

"I'd say it's pretty lucky it was Willie Mason who was investigating," she said, starting to laugh again. "Any other fellow wouldn't have been so discrete about what we had been up to in here."

Anthony leaned back, closed his eyes, and began counting back from one hundred. He lost count when Edith's hand began stroking his arm soothingly.

"Chimpanzees? Really?" he asked, cracking one eye. He had the pleasure of seeing Edith's face flush with embarrassment.

"Well…we were protesting what we thought was an uncomfortably close relationship between a small construction group and several of the council members…you know, darts at the local…all together at a Christening…things like that. Turns out, there was nothing untoward about the bidding, but we were convinced we had broken open the corruption case of the century."

Anthony smiled as she explained and took the opportunity to observe her face as the lights from the car park streamed into the car. He felt something twist in his stomach as he thought of the possibility of not having her in his life always, and he began to rummage through his coat pocket.

"Anyway," she finished, "I guess you could say my first foray into local politics didn't end well. I couldn't really say why we used the chimpanzees…just that it made sense at the time." She looked at him almost shyly to see him staring at her like she was the only thing in the world. "What?"

"I…I have another gift for you, Edith," he said, clearing his throat. "I meant to give it to you at Christmas, but lost my nerve at your parent's house, so I just gave you the book."

"I love the book, Anthony. You needn't get me anything else—"

"Yes, I do," he interrupted. "So, I was going to give it to you for your birthday, since it's less than a month away. I figured it would give me more time to do it properly…"

"Anthony, what are you—"

"And now, it looks like I'm going to give it to you on New Years Eve in a bloody car park at a petrol station because I don't think I've ever loved you as much as I do right now at this moment and I'm afraid if I wait until we get back to York, I'll lose my nerve again."

Edith stared at him in concern. His face had gotten red as he rambled and his fist was clenched in the pocket of his jacket.

"Go on then," she said quietly.

Anthony took a deep breath and took the small box out of his pocket. He handed it to Edith who took it with trembling hands.

"This isn't the right way to do this," he said despairingly. "And I know this sort of thing has never been in my skill set…" he trailed off as Edith opened the box to reveal the ring he'd had since the invitation to Christmas with Edith's family. "Oh God, it probably won't even fit."

"Anthony," she said calmly. He looked over at her, feeling light headed. "Is this an engagement ring?" He nodded. "You want to marry me?" He nodded again. "Do you intend on _asking_ me?"

"I didn't intend on asking like this," he moaned. "I'm sorry. Would you rather I waited at least until we got home and—"

"For the love of God, will you just go ahead and ask! Or do I have to do it?"

"Would you? It would go a lot more smoothly, I think."

"Anthony Strallan, I am never going to let you forget this."

"I hope you don't. I hope you bring it up every year, every anniversary—"

"Oh, I intend to." She reached for his face with the hand that wasn't holding the box. "You'll never hear the end of it."

Anthony held her hand to his face and looked into her eyes, which were brimming with tears. He kissed her palm, then reached out to take the box from her hand. Plucking the ring from the folds of fabric, he cradled her hand in his and slipped the ring onto her finger. It was a little loose, but didn't seem to be in any danger of falling off.

Edith held his hands tightly as he leaned forward to kiss her. She took a deep breath when their lips parted.

"I cannot believe I got engaged in the car park of a petrol station on New Years Eve," she said in wonder.

"Neither can I," he said, bending in for another kiss. Then another.

"Now what?" Edith asked between kisses.

"I have no idea," he replied, hugging her as tight as he could over the console. "I guess we drive home—"

"Slowly and carefully."

"—and make love all night. Then we start planning a wedding, maybe figure out where we're going to live, how many children we're going to have…I should probably make a list…"

"I thought you said this sort of thing wasn't in your skill set."

"I'm a quick study." Kissing her one last time, he engaged the drive and began to pull out of the car park.

"You might want to get petrol first," Edith said, pointing to the gage that was in the red. "It would be just like us to get stranded all night long on the motorway in Yorkshire."

"That would be a hell of a way to ring in the New Year," he agreed.

"Nothing could top what you've already done."

"God, I love you."

"I love you too. Get some crisps while you're in there, would you?"

"So, it begins…"


End file.
